Will this be another winter like 1998, when we got 86 inches of rain
(depending on exactly where in Bonny Doon you measure it) thanks to a
powerful El Niño condition? Or will it be closer to our average of 39
inches, which is about what we got last rainy season (36 inches), nearly
half of it in December.

As California continues to deal with the drought, one of the strongest
ever El Niño events is projected for this winter, according to records
going back to 1950. What exactly is El Niño and how may it impact us?
Will we experience huge storms, mudslides, flooding, humongous waves,
and shoreline erosion?

Answers and the latest and best estimates will be shared with Dooners at
our Nov. 11 RBDA meeting by Andrea O’Neill, an oceanographer and
meteorologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Coastal and Marine
Science Center in Santa Cruz, where she has worked the past three
years. She previously served for 10 years with the U.S. Navy in Japan,
tailoring forecasts and climatological products for resource planning.

The general predictions are that this
rainy season will be wetter than normal, but it is by no means certain.
The San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas are at the northern edge of the
area where increased precipitation is forecast, so just a little
swing southward and the prediction may not come true. But let’s hear
what an expert like Ms. O’Neill has to say about it.

Pot Farming: the State Steps In and Steps Up

Almost 20 years after Proposition 215 passed in 1996, making California
the first state to legalize medical marijuana, our State Legislature has
finally stepped up to bring some sense to the patchwork of California
counties’ rules regulating cultivation, distribution and sale.

In early October Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law three bills that also
should create a framework for regulating recreational pot, which almost
certainly will be on our ballot in 2016. State law AB266 establishes the
state medical marijuana bureau and gives it sole authority to issue,
suspend or revoke licenses for transportation, distribution and sale.
AB243 requires marijuana farmers to obtain licenses through the state
Dept. of Food and Agriculture, and gives the state the power to fine any
grower who harms a river, stream or lake. SB643 requires the Medical
Board of California to investigate doctors who recommend the drug
excessively and makes it a misdemeanor for doctors with a financial
stake in a medical marijuana facility to prescribe the drug.

The
State Water Resources Board has also established rules to protect our
surface and groundwater from problems related to pot farming.

Local governments have been free to establish their own regulations, as
long as they didn’t violate the boundaries sketched by Prop. 215. It
required patients to get a physician’s recommendation to grow their own
or buy it from a licensed dispensary. In 2003 the State set limits for
possession and cultivation by eligible individual patients and their
caregivers: 8 ounces of usable marijuana, although doctors could
authorize more if they saw fit; and cultivation of 6 mature or 12
immature plants. However, counties were free to allow a grow space of
100 sq. ft., and Santa Cruz approved that generous rule. Lt. Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s recent commission on marijuana regulations said that created a
situation where people could legally grow more pot than they personally
needed. Combined with Santa Cruz’s well known tolerance for use and
suitable climate, the rule made the county a magnet for pot farmers.

Meanwhile, growing pot use and acceptance and authorities’ reluctance or
inability to enforce the law, has led to growing consumption, and many
more people willing to risk farming to sell to the black market. There
is evidence that people from outside the county are buying land here for
cultivation. The County Planning Dept. knows about more than 150
illegal grows, but hasn’t the resources or will to deal with most of
them.

The new state laws should help local authorities by making it clear
which pot grows are legal, and letting them crack down on the others, if
they have the will and the resources. A new tax passed in the County
last year (Measure K) could supply almost a million dollars a year for
enforcement.

The new State laws don’t take effect until 2018, but local governments
have only until March 1 to write their own regulations, within the
State’s guidelines, about where commercial medical marijuana may be
grown, and under what circumstances. The Supervisors have created a
13-member Cannabis Cultivation Choices Committee, composed of five
concerned citizens, one from each district, five growers and three
people with various experience and expertise in pot regulation. It was
supposed to report to Supervisors in mid-December with recommendations
for policies to protect neighborhoods and the environment from pot
farming’s negative impacts, while ensuring an adequate supply for
patients with a doctor’s recommendation. Faced with the new March 1
deadline, on Oct. 23 the Supervisors told the committee that it would
consider an interim ordinance on Dec. 8.

We are very concerned about the negative impacts of commercial
cultivation on our neighborhoods and the environment. If we expect the
County to create and enforce new regulations that truly meet their
published criteria, we need to take an active role and make our voices
heard loud and clear. At our Nov. 11 RBDA meeting we will set aside some
time to listen to your thoughts about what regulations will best
protect Bonny Doon residents and the environment from the growing
impacts.

EIR for New Land Use Rules to Start

On Sept. 29 the Board of Supervisors voted to begin the Environmental
Impact Report process for sweeping land use and permit process rules
changes. The Planning Dept.’s original proposals were modified after a
series of public meetings in September in the Supervisors' districts.

The first of those meetings was the RBDA meeting Sept. 9, attended by
more than 100 people. The takeaway sentiment was very clear regarding
commercial events in residential neighborhoods: the noise and traffic is
unacceptable.

At the RBDA meeting it was apparent that the Planners had the astounding
impression that residents were opposed to homeowners renting out their
property for weddings but not similar celebrations that create noise,
traffic and inebriation. The message was clearly heard and at the Sept.
29 Supervisors’ meeting the proposed rules had been changed to include
all types of commercial celebrations, which will be prohibited on
residential properties on less than 8 acres and in the Coastal Zone.
This includes almost all of Bonny Doon.

Of course it doesn’t apply to people hosting private parties (weddings,
birthdays, whatever) for friends and family, although they have to
comply with the County’s noise ordinance, which has also been
strengthened to reduce impacts on neighbors.

Other parts of the sweeping proposals were also changed. Stringent
restrictions on storage containers were loosened after people from rural
areas complained that they are very useful and don’t make the same
visual impacts as they do in denser neighborhoods.

Among the proposed rules are eased regulations that allow wineries,
breweries and farms to promote themselves and boost their bottom line
through agro-tourism—farm dinners and other events. Wineries are grouped
into three different categories by size, and the larger the winery the
more and larger events it can have.

The new proposals also streamline and improve the permit process, which
has been strongly criticized for years. While the new regulations
hopefully will be written in very clear language, there is always
concern that Planners may allow uses or activities, albeit with
conditions, seemingly prohibited by the new code. That means the burden
of fighting a permit approval still will fall on neighbors, who will
continue to have to pay serious money to file an appeal.

The Home Occupation ordinance has been rewritten to ensure it can’t be
used to allow commercial events. The new language should make it clear
that the residential properties may only be used commercially for such
businesses as professional services like accounting, mechanics’
workshops, art and craft studios, or exercise or similar training
classes for small numbers of customers at a time.

Planners said the proposed regulations are designed to make it easier
for non-profit community organizations like the school and the fire team
to get permits for fundraisers on private property, and to renew them,
although some people are uneasy that any regulation will be costly and a
burden. The Supervisors voted to limit the number of such events to two
per property per year.

The impacts of all the proposals will be studied during the EIR process,
which should begin soon with a public announcement of a so-called
scoping process, a public meeting or at least a period of time during
which people can point out impacts that should be studied. That will be
followed by the study and the publication of a draft EIR; a 30-to-60 day
window for the public to respond to that; a Planning Commission and
Supervisors’ hearing; and then the presentation of the final EIR for the
Supervisors’ approval. The entire process is expected to take the
better part of a year. The Supervisors directed the Planning Dept. to
set up and publicize a website to keep the public informed.

Of course, no matter what the new rules say and what protections are
created to limit the impacts of any projects, the effectiveness will
still come down to the Planning Dept.’s enforcement of the code. As
Supervisor John Leopold said on Sept. 29, “We’re responsible for policy.
The Planning Dept. is responsible for carrying it out.”

Tourism Drives the Coast Dairies National Monument Train

It
has become clearer than ever that the main motivation to make Coast
Dairies (which will be known as Cotoni-Coast Dairies) a national
monument is to increase tourism in northern Santa Cruz County. The
phrase “to boost tourism” occurs in all the bills, news releases and
pronouncements by its backers, from Sen. Barbara Boxer to Rep. Anna
Eshoo to Sempervirens President Fred Keeley.

Here’s an excerpt from Sen. Boxer’s news release announcing her
introduction of a bill to make Coast Dairies part of the California
Coastal National Monument:

“Expanding the
Monument is not just good for our conservation efforts – it is also good
for the economy. Each of these natural treasures [four smaller
California properties are included in her bill] showcases the
breathtaking coastlines and recreational opportunities that draw
visitors from California and across the world.”

That’s exactly the problem: the
global publicity machine—websites, publications and advertising—that
promotes visitation to national parks and monuments. When a property
becomes a national monument, the number of visitors grows rapidly. For
example, in the first year following its designation, visitors to the
remote Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument jumped 40%. Here, with
easy access from the 8 million people living in the San Francisco and
Monterey Bay areas, how many people can we expect to visit Coast Dairies
each year? Ft. Ord National Monument attracts 400,000. Coast Dairies
eventually should easily attract at least half that.

Why is that a problem? There is an increasing body of research that
shows that predators—mountain lions, bobcats, badgers, foxes—avoid areas
frequented by humans, even if they are just hiking, let alone camping
or careening around on mountain bikes. That has cascading effects on
their prey, and the vegetation they consume. Thus, the entire
environment becomes distorted. And isn’t protection and preservation of
the environment the main reason we worked hard to keep Coast Dairies
undeveloped?

Unlike almost all other properties that have been preserved by national
monument status, Coast Dairies is already a federally owned property,
protected in perpetuity by strict deed restrictions and a Coastal
Development Permit.

Hordes of visitors will also overwhelm Davenport, which is already
reeling from crowds of visitors on sunny, warm weekend days, and further
gridlock traffic on Mission Street and area highways.

Who does more tourism benefit? Davenport’s handful of restaurants and
one small hotel are busy as they can be on summer weekends. The motels
and restaurants in Santa Cruz will get more business. But is that so
great? Tourist industry jobs are notoriously low paying. Affordable
housing is already a serious problem. Where will the hotel maids, wait
staff and dishwashers live? Is this really worth ruining Davenport,
impacting the environment, adding even more visitors to our busy
beaches, gridlocking roads and all the other negative impacts?

Another issue that hasn’t been much discussed is whether Coast Dairies
is really worthy of national monument recognition? It doesn’t have any
WOW! features, like the huge redwoods of Big Basin or the soaring rock
outcroppings of the Pinnacles. It has gorgeous views of the shore and
the ocean, but so does every public and private property on the coastal
hills between Santa Cruz and Pescadero. Coast Dairies was thoroughly
logged, exploited for minerals and grazed by livestock during the 20th
century. Non-native invasive plants abound. Use of the hulking, rusting,
dangerous-substance laden cement plant property as a gateway is at best
many years away.

Yes, Coast Dairies is valuable as open space and habitat for many
species of wildlife, some of which are threatened or endangered, and was
well deserving of protection and preservation. But lowering the
standards for national monument status is a bad idea and creates even
more competition for the ever-scarcer federal dollars to properly manage
the properties already protected, or that deserve such status, like the
300,000 acre Mojave Desert lands that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is trying
to protect.

It is clear that Sen. Boxer and Rep. Eshoo are merely responding to
pressure from Sempervirens Fund and their Silicon Valley supporters, who
have their own agenda. That was obvious from the Sept. 21 Davenport
meeting. Rep. Eshoo wouldn’t even grant time for the RBDA to talk about
the petition we presented to her there, signed by more than 600 mostly
local people. In a subsequent letter she wrote, “Without Monument
status, the land will likely remain closed to the public…” This is
patently untrue: BLM is already working to open the first trail there.

Having struck out with Sen. Boxer and Rep. Eshoo, we are now focusing
our efforts on federal Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Since in the
Republican controlled Congress the bills stand virtually no chance of
passage, it will be up to Sec. Jewell to recommend that President Obama
use the National Antiquities Act to make Coast Dairies a monument. We
need to try to impress on her the overwhelming local opposition from
North Coast communities, and the reasons for it.

With the critical issues that could have major impacts on Bonny Doon,
serving on the RBDA Board may be more important than ever. If you care
about your community and want to help preserve our quality of life and
our environment, we urge you to consider participating.

We elect new RBDA board members at our annual meeting in January.
According to our Bylaws, candidates must be nominated at the November
RBDA meeting. There are three Board members whose terms expire in
January, those of Ted Benhari, Betsy Firebaugh and Dave Rubin. In
addition, the members must approve the appointment of Clay Peters, whom
the board chose earlier this year to fill an empty seat.

As per the Bylaws, the Board selected one of its officers, Andy
Davidson, to head the Nominating Committee. If you are interested in
running for the Board, or just would like to talk about what is
involved, please contact Andy through the RBDA email address,
board@rbda.us. To run for the Board you must have been an RBDA member as
of Oct. 11, one month before the Nov. 11 General Meeting.

Under the Bylaws, RBDA members may vote by absentee ballot. To obtain
one, send a signed request to Membership Coordinator Andy Davidson, care
of Rural Bonny Doon Association, P.O. Box 551, Felton, CA 95018. You
must give the member’s name and address, and send a self-addressed
stamped legal-sized envelope. The request is due by Dec. 15 and the
ballot must be received by the Membership Coordinator by Jan. 13, 2016.

RBDA Inc.

As we wrote about in January, the RBDA Board decided it would be
advantageous for the RBDA to be formally organized as a corporation. For
the past year we pursued that, and in late August the State approved
our application as a tax-exempt non-profit 501(c)(4) organization.

We have had similar status with the federal government since 1988, but
not as a corporation. Corporate status provides strong legal protections
for the organization and board members against frivolous or retaliatory
lawsuits when we take positions on various issues. Initially we
explored the idea of becoming a 501(c)(3) corporation, which would have
allowed donations to the RBDA to be tax deductible, but the legal
hurdles to achieving that status for an advocacy organization like ours
caused us to abandon the effort.

Incorporation won’t have any effect on the way the RBDA and the Board
and organization function. It does require the addition of three new
paragraphs to our Bylaws, in Article II-B, that refer to our new
corporate status under State law. As per our Bylaws, those paragraphs
will be read to the membership at our November meeting, published in the
January 2016 Highlander, and voted on by members at the January Annual
Meeting.

What We Do

Besides publishing The Highlander and holding five meetings a year to
inform Dooners on important local issues and the natural world, the RBDA
advocates for preservation of the environment and our lifestyle, and
for health and safety issues.

The RBDA’s founders were prime movers in the first County General Plan
and zoning regulations, keeping Bonny Doon from becoming suburbia. Over
our nearly 60-year history we have won many battles to stop, or at least
mitigate the negative impacts of, harmful regulations and developments.

The RBDA played a significant role in helping preserve properties like
Wilder/ Gray Whale, Coast Dairies and the Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve
(keeping it from becoming a golf course surrounded by houses), stopped a
250-guest event center, thwarted the CEMEX quarry’s expansion, halted
UCSC’s extension into Bonny Doon, and beat back a large trailer park.

Support
the RBDA by renewing your membership now: all
1-year memberships expire on January 31st.

Ideas
for RBDA Meeting Topics

We are always open to suggestions for interesting
programs and speakers at our bimonthly (except July)
RBDA public meetings.What are you interested in? Local flora and fauna,
gardening, environmental and political issues, Bonny
Doon history or geology, public safety?What were some of your favorite speakers or
presentations at past RBDA meetings?Were there any that you would like us to repeat?Please email us with your ideas and comments at board@rbda.us.

Bonny Doon's
voice in preserving our special quality of
life,
The Highlander is mailed free to Bonny Doon
residents prior to the
RBDA General Meetings, which are usually
held on second Wednesdays of
January, March, May, July, September and
November.
We encourage you to participate.

Send
mail correspondence to the Highlander Editor
at the above address,
or by email, below.